Today, mom sent me out for a coffee. She wants to cut it out of her diet, but the more she pushes, the more the craving pushes back. So, what did I do? I'm a good daughter, I bought her the coffee at the local coffee shop up the street. This crazy thing happened as I walked through the door. I saw a man I thought I knew. I walked right up to him and said, "Tom?" He said, "Hello". It was not the Tom I knew. I apologized profusely, then he said, "My name is Tom. Nice to meet you." Something... someone was at work through me in that five minutes of embarrassment. I bought the coffee for mom, told Tom to have a great day and decided Tom must have needed a Hello that morning. The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways. Even through coffee. It seems obvious now, anytime is the right time for whatever is happening at that exact moment.
Just like life, coffee has it's ups and it's downs. I love the smell, but can't touch the stuff. My brother, a RN, swears by it. Here are a few Pros and Cons to help you decide if it's time to cut back, try it out or banish it all together. By the way, next time you see Tom, say "Hi" for me.
Perks:
1. Alertness: Even in relatively low doses of 100 milligrams (the amount in about 8 ounces of ordinary brewed coffee), caffeine makes people more alert.
2. Mood: At 200 milligrams people report an improved sense of well-being, happiness, energy, alertness and sociability.
3. Concentration: Studies suggest that caffeine can help you perform a variety of cognitive tasks, such as recognizing visual patterns, more quickly.
4. Performance: Research shows if 3-9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight is consumed one hour prior to exercise it increases endurance.
5. Reduce muscle pain: Stanley Segall, Ph.D., has found that caffeine might stimulate the release of B-endorphins and hormones that depress the sensation of pain or discomfort.
Quirks:
1. Cardiovascular Problems: Caffeine increases heart rate, elevates blood pressure and can contribute to the development of heart disease. Drinking both decaf and regular coffee may increase cholesterol and homocysteine, the biochemical that science has linked to increased risk for heart attack. Caffeine is also linked to coronary vasospasms. Coronary vasospasms cause 20% of all fatal heart attacks that kill otherwise perfectly healthy people.
2. Stress: Caffeine stimulates the excretion of stress hormones, which can produce increased levels of anxiety, irritability, muscular tension and pain, indigestion, insomnia and decreased immunity. Increased levels of stress can keep you from making healthy responses to normal daily stress.
3. Emotional Disturbances: Anxiety and irritability are hallmark mood disturbances associated with caffeine consumption, but equally important are depression and attention disorders. Depression may occur as part of the letdown after the stimulant effects of caffeine wear off. It may also appear during the recovery period after quitting caffeine while the brain's chemistry is readjusted. Rather than increasing mental activity, caffeine actually decreases blood flow to the brain by as much as 30% and negatively affects memory and mental performance.
4. Gastrointestinal Problems: Many people experience a burning sensation in their stomach after drinking coffee because coffee increases the secretion of hydrochloric acid, which leads to an increased risk for ulcers. Coffee, including decaf, reduces pressure on the valve between the esophagus and the stomach so that the highly acidic contents of the stomach pass up to the esophagus, which can lead to heartburn and gastro-esophageal reflux disease.
5. Adrenal Exhaustion: Caffeine consumption leads to eventual adrenal exhaustion, which can leave you vulnerable to a variety of health disorders related to inflammation and fatigue.
Resources:
Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug by Stephen Cherniske.
Integrative Nutrition, 2009
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